Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Distrust is the
order of the day. Lack of trust in people, companies, products ... Beyond the
definition of the dictionary, mistrust can be seen as a threat to happiness;
after all, those who distrust anticipate something negative, ending in a
constant state of alert.

As in the
physical world, lack of trust is present in networks. In terms of any
transaction a third party is always necessary to verify who we are and to have
some control of the transactions carried out. Very briefly, for all those who walk
a little lost, blockchain is a database of which all those who participate in
the network keep a copy. This technology is based on consensus and confidence:
if we all have the same information, that information is true.

But although
this technology is in every mouth, and it begins to be frequent in events and
talks, the opinions, as in most of the subjects, are not equal. Experts say it
will lead to a revolution, but it´s well known that revolutions are sometimes
not synonymous with improvement. Beyond the opinions, the fears and doubts
begin to appear in the companies and today we know the results of a surveyrealized to more than 200 British professionals of the sector. This study is
carried out by the search and recruitment consultancy MBN to know the vision of
the companies on the arrival of blockchain and how it will affect your
business.

The blockchain
has landed and is coming to stay. It´s not a utopia and is clear to most
companies, more than half plan to carry out initiatives based on blockchain.
Analyzing the data extracted from the survey can be said that in the management
positions blockchain is a reality that will bring many improvements: 90% of
technology managers believe that blockchain will improve consumer confidence,
privacy and security. This fact is certainly positive since they will be the
ones in charge of taking the step inside the companies and to foment the
motivation of its own equipment in the face of the adaptation of its business
models to this new technology.

But even though
management positions are clear enough, only 1 in 10 of the executives
interviewed believe they have the skills to carry out blockchain implementation
in their companies. And this tool brings with it a need for knowledge and
skills that, given that for some time the lack of talent that has been blamed
on the cybersecurity sector, can be difficult to achieve.

But beyond the
cybersecurity departments, this blockchain is all Greek. More than 40% of
non-IT department senior executives or data admit they do not fully understand
blockchain technology. For many this is one of the great drawbacks of this new
tool. The consumer himself will not see an improvement in his transactions, as
this improvement of cybersecurity is not something tangible.

Paul Forrest,
chair of the survey firm says: "What is clear from the survey is that the
conversation about blockchain is evolving rapidly and we are just beginning to
understand the real technology and the total potential behind financial
applications. While it is encouraging that so many businesses are thinking of
implementing blockchain, it is also clear that it´s necessary to set up a good
foundation of skills if we want to be in the forefront. In short, step by step.

It´s true that
in recent years we have been losing freedoms on the Internet in exchange for convenience.
Blockchain, in principle, seems like a good measure to regain control of our
privacy and trust when making transactions, but palace things go slowly, and
when talking about cybersecurity, trust is one of the basic pillars.